Waterford’s Daryl Murphy has swapped the stripes of Sunderland for the hoops of Glasgow Celtic after agreeing terms with the Scottish giants for an undisclosed fee.
Waterford’s Daryl Murphy has swapped the stripes of Sunderland for the hoops of Glasgow Celtic after agreeing terms with the Scottish giants for an undisclosed fee.
Speaking to Beat 102 103’s Martin Clancy, the 27-year-old spoke of his delight having signed a three-year-deal with the Parkhead club on Friday last.
“Like most young lads in Waterford or Ireland, pulling on a Celtic jersey was always an ambition of mine,” he said.
“And given the Irish connections with the club, it’s an absolute dream come true for me and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into training. I can’t wait put on the shirt and play my first game.”
Murphy made 110 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 14 goals and enjoyed a productive loan spell at Roy Keane’s Ipswich last season, netting six times in 18 starts.
And while it’s believed that Keane was anxious to secure Murphy’s full-time signature, one call from Neil Lennon decided the striker’s professional future.
“There were a lot of clubs interested in me but once I has concrete evidence that Celtic were interested in me, there was only one decision to be made, really. I couldn’t really turn them down.”
Daryl missed out on a potential head-to-head against fellow Waterford native John O’Shea last week, with Celtic taking on Manchester United in a friendly in Toronto.
“If things had been done earlier, I could have flown out and met the squad and played a few games out there, but I’m just happy to be here now and I’m looking forward to meeting up with all the lads,” he said.
Murphy, surely approaching his peak in footballing terms, cannot wait for the new SPL season to kick-off.
“Obviously we want to win the title back. It’s a massive club; it’s a massive season for the club, especially as we haven’t won the title for two seasons, so the fans will be hungry for silverware this year.”
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